Harvard president Derek Bok had the idea that the universities
should be educating the populace about great social issues, so he
called on five of the university's faculty members and one graduate
student "to try to supply the public as a whole with an objective
account of the basic facts about nuclear arms control that sorted
out the various issues and proposals and presented the arguments
for and against each position." The naivete of Bok's hope has born
fruit in this mushy study, which tries to incorporate everyone's
point of view, from Stanley Hoffmann on the near left to Samuel P.
Huntington on the more distant right (the others are biochemist
Paul Doty, public policy professor Albert Carnesale, political
scientist Joseph S. Nye, Jr., and Scott D. Sagan, a political
science graduate student and Staff Director of the project). This
makes for the kind of study that concludes with advice like this:
"Where Americans should stand on the range of moral, political, and
strategic dilemmas forced upon us by nuclear weapons must be
determined by each individual after careful thought and according
to his or her values, judgments, and assumptions." After reviewing,
in primer fashion, the history of the arms race and its attendant
concepts - which are becoming much more widely understood by the
audience this book addresses than the authors seem to think - the
study comes to some unremarkable policy conclusions, including
support for the concept of deterrence (in accordance with the
Catholic bishops' position), endorsement of a stronger conventional
force (also as a deterrent, presuming that conventional warfare
would come first), advocacy of "crisis stabilization" through arms
negotiations, and a more limited and flexible sense of American
national interests. This is another of those "realistic" approaches
that are so much less interesting, and less thought-provoking, than
the pointed arguments of Schell, Zuckerman, Kennan, et al. (Kirkus
Reviews)
At the request of the President of Harvard University, six
Harvard scholars have joined forces to write a book that lays out
the facts about nuclear weapons for all concerned citizens who want
to think through the nuclear dilemma for themselves. "Living with
Nuclear Weapons" is written by specialists for the general reader.
It conveys crucial information clearly, concisely, and without
technical jargon.
"Living with Nuclear Weapons" presents all sides of the nuclear
debate while explaining what everyone needs to know to develop
informed and reasoned opinions about the issues. Among the
specifics are a history of nuclear weaponry; an examination of
current nuclear arsenals; scenarios of how a nuclear war might
begin; a discussion of what can be done to promote arms control and
disarmament; a study of the hazards of nuclear proliferation; an
analysis of various nuclear strategies; and an explanation of how
public opinion can influence policy on the nuclear arms
question.
General
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